exhaust pinging?

[swampyrbs]

please could i ask if an explorer exhaust usually pings and cracks after very short journeys say 1 mile ,i sometimes get a noise on start up which sounds like the baffles have come apart but usually dissapears quire quickly i am going to change it soon but could it be the cat?.also today i got a whiff of a smell i can only describe as a clutch burning smell which is weird as its an auto after hard acceleration up a sliproad but as i had windows open it could have been another car or van anyone had any simular symptoms?thanks in advance swampy

 

[SB98UKexplorer]

does sound like your cats have gone, go to a garage that will test this for you.

 

[BIGHVM]

Hello mate, please be sure you can find were the noise is coming from before you take it to have new cats fitted, it may be your timing chain rattling if you have not done the tensioners (00m12)
That could be the start up noise!
On the other hand it may just be a loose heat sheild on the cats- Its common for them to break the weld- Its not critical and most people just break them right off or cut them off once the weld breaks. This wont change the way the cat works, but may cause long grass parked over to combust!

 

[swampyrbs]

cheers for replys,its definatley the baffles as ive been under and had a listen,as for timing chain tensioners alls well there,the only ticking i get is from the injectors now ive put some redex in.its been serviced regularly by fords according to service book and for the first few months after registration they owned it,so maybe it had the recall work done although i havent checked yet ,will pop into ats or kwick fit when i get paid and get a new back box as i looks well used and rusty,thanks again richard